Photo by Alan Scafuri. Athletic Director Brad Bush holds the plaque won by Chelsea’s baseball field by the Michigan Sports Turf Managers’ Association.

On Friday night, Chelsea High School’s baseball field plaque for being chosen as “2014 Field of the Year” by the Michigan Sports Turf Managers’ Association (MiSTMA), was shown to the crowd at the Chelsea basketball game.

The “Field of the Year” award is presented each year by MiSTMA to reflect the quality of fields and field managers throughout Michigan. A complete list of previous winners can be seen here.

MiSTMA is a network of sports turf managers, coaches, athletic directors, and suppliers who promote professionalism, advocate safe conditions, provide continuing education, and support the progress of research, all in the pursuit of practical guidance for every economic level of athletic and recreational use of turfgrass.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank coach Gary Dosey for the information in this story.)

The Beach Middle School wrestlers competed at the tough JAWS tournament Saturday in Jackson. They went 2-2 in dual meets with victories over Haslett and Okemos. They lost dual meets with Fowlerville and Parma Western.

Leading the way for the Bulldogs with 4 victories on the day was Tom Kennings, Aidan Hutchison, and Gabe Vowles. Winning 3 matches was Jack Conlin and Shane Nold. Nick Christian and Anthony Pearse were each able to win 2 matches on the day.

The tough break of the day went to Brandon deGracia who only wrestled once but he was able to win a very tight 6-5 decision over his opponent from Parma Western. Other wrestlers to win 1 match on the day were Mason Pustay, Mitchell Reynolds, Anothony Gervais, and Jack Krauss.

This was the last competition of the year for the wrestlers. They finished 11-10 in dual meets for the season.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Frank Hammer for the information in this column.)

Last week you learned a ditty: “1 and 2 can live anew, 3 through 8 just don’t rate.” This works for bottles and containers, but for other plastic materials—not so much.

You may find yourself asking, “What do I do with my broken plastic lawn chair, which does NOT have a number on it”? There’s lots of plastic out there, and most of it can be recycled.

The best recycling is to give a second life to anything that is still usable, by sending it to a charity of your choice. In Chelsea, we are lucky to have Goodwill, which is located in the mall on south M-52, but any charity or rummage sale will both provide funds for the group, and keep good stuff out of the recycling stream. That’s a win-win.

For the rest of it … here is a partial list of products, often made of plastic, with a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down indicator for recycling purposes.

The following are ALL thumbs up:

Toys: All types, from big things like play structures and wading pools, through mobility toys like Big Wheels and wagons, to small things like Barbie houses and toddler toys.

Storage Containers like those made by Rubbermaid and Tupperware, as well as many other companies. Don’t forget about plastic filing cabinets and other large plastic storage devices.

Medicine Bottles: CAUTION–Those with unused medicine should be disposed of properly. Take the bottle, with the medicine in it, and deposit it in the collector at the Chelsea Police Station lobby. For an empty bottle, check the number on the bottom.

The following are definitely thumbs down:

Foam Rubber: No, no, no. Not for any type, ever. Not even foam flip-flops.

Garden hoses or other rubber materials, even if they appear to be plastic.

Not sure about a plastic item you don’t see listed here? Give WWRA a call at 734-475-6160 during business hours. We will take it if we can, or tell you its trash.

Reggie has loved the feedback and questions from this series on plastics. And, in case you missed the previous two columns, click here and here. He will be answering them next week—so send him any more thoughts you still have about plastics at lallmendinger@sbcglobal.net

Reggie Raccoons Royal Recycling Review:

Recycling puts materials back into use; trash is for things that cannot be used again.

Flexible plastic of all kinds go in the trash, not in the recycling bins.

Remember there are some alternative uses for plastic bags on their way to the trash.

Styrofoam and Polystyrene are good for packaging, but have to go to the trash.

Plastics 1 and 2 can live anew, but 3 to 8 just don’t rate.

Most other plastics are recyclable—but never foam rubber, garden hoses, or flexibles.

Courtesy photo. A glimpse at the Homemakers Club of Chelsea recent fundraiser at Chelsea Lanes.

By Lisa Carolin

The Homemakers Club of Chelsea is celebrating its golden anniversary this year, and the club held its fundraising event on Feb. 21 at Chelsea Lanes.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Waterloo Natural History Association.

“We chose the WNHA because it’s local, deals with nature and our environment, and is a great resource for the community,” said Janis Horning, president of the club, who adds that they also want to raise awareness about WNHA.

Courtesy photo. Enjoying bowling at Chelsea Lanes.

There are 18 members currently in the Homemakers Club. Horning attributes the club’s 50-year longevity to its members’ commitment.

“We meet only once a month, and the planning committee changes every year so people don’t get burned out doing the same thing year after year,” said Horning.

Members volunteer to host meetings and activities. They go to plays and on day trips as well as playing board games and arranging special holiday dinners.

“We also have ‘secret pals,’ which tends to be the favorite part,” said Horning. “Secret pal names are drawn within the group in September, and gifts are exchanged at Christmas and on birthdays, and a final gift given at next year’s September meeting when the secret pal is revealed.”

The Homemakers Club of Chelsea was started in 1964 as a spin-off of the Michigan State University extension service where people learned to do everything from taxes to hanging wall paper to cooking. A group of women broke away and began planning their own monthly activities.

“It gets us out of the house for some ‘me’ time,” said Horning.

The Homemakers Club began fundraising in 1991 and has donated to such organizations as the Hope Clinic, Alpha House, Ele’s Place, SRSLY, the Foundation for the Blind, the Red Cross, and the St. Louis Center.

This year’s donation to the WNHA will help finance the production of a new audio-visual program for the Discovery Center Auditorium, which is slated to be unveiled in the spring. Tamara Charney from Michigan Public Radio is recording the program’s narrative. The 12-minute digital program will tell the story of the Waterloo Recreation Area’s history from the ice age to the present.

The Homemakers have donated more than $26,700 to local nonprofits since 1991.

Courtesy photo from the recent Homemakers of Chelsea fundraiser at Chelsea Lanes. Proceeds will benefit the Waterloo Natural History Association.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Mary Lou Hahn-Setta for the information in this story.)

St. MaryCatholic Church is sponsoring another Theology on Tap on March 12 at the Chelsea Grille at 7 p.m. and everyone is invited.

The speaker will be Fr. Ben Hawley, SJ. Fr. Ben will speak on Pope Francis, Year 2 and the Jesuit Charism. This is the 2nd anniversary of Pope Francis’ election, and Fr. Ben is the Jesuit pastor of St. Mary Student Parish in Ann Arbor.

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade were treated to “Teacher Olympics” at South Meadows on Feb. 26 to officially end the fifth annual fruit and veggie challenge.

Throughout the month of February, students at both elementary schools have kept track of their fruit and vegetable intake. In an effort to promote healthier lifestyles through eating wholesome foods and increasing physical activity, teachers set a building-wide goal for the number of fruit and vegetables servings for students to consume during the school day.

“Both schools came up a bit short of our original goals,” said South Meadows’ principal Stacie Battaglia. Dressed as a tomato and wearing a gigantic white glove, she held up four stout fingers to demonstrate the number of February school days lost to snow or cold temperatures as a primary reason for not reaching the goal. “But, we surpassed our revised goal, eating 8,095 servings,” she said, as South’s students cheered.

Not to be outdone, North’s students cheered when Principal Marcus Kaemming, dressed as a bunch of grapes, announced that his kindergarten through second graders had eaten 12,000 servings.

Traveling to South Meadows by bus to watch their teachers compete is a favorite outing for North Creek students. Kindergarten students were awed by their first glimpse of the huge gymnasium housed in their future school and the noise created by hundreds of spirited students excited to host the games.

Much like any sporting event, upbeat music was played prior to the start of the event. Teachers warmed up in preparation for their athletic feats, while enthusiastic spectators rooted for their favorites.

A new addition to this year’s entertainment was a video of Kaemming and Battaglia in the aisles of Polly’s Country Market, dressed in their grape and tomato costumes, to demonstrate that shopping for healthy foods can be fun.

“What a wonderful celebration of healthy choices,” said Dana Emmert, school board member and parent who attended the event. “The principals, Stacie Battaglia and Marcus Kaemming, along with all of the staff from our schools did an amazing job and provided a really positive experience for the students.

Chelsea pride was apparent in all of the smiling faces.

“I had so much fun being a witness to just one of the many fantastic ways our teachers go above and beyond for our children,” she said.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Bob Milbrodt for the information in this story.)

The Kiwanis Club of Chelsea, in its 91st year, holds a weekly meeting on Monday nights at 6:15 p.m. in the St. Joseph Mercy-Chelsea cafeteria.

This week’s speaker will be Lisa Nickel from Chelsea School District. She is director of Early Childhood Education, who will speak about the programs offered in Chelsea. Our club has been supporting scholarships for financially needy students, and will also look with her for other ways to assist in the development of our community’s youngest citizens.

It is a prime goal of the Kiwanis club to serve the children of Chelsea.

The speaker typically begins at 6:45 p.m. and everyone is invited to the meeting to learn about Kiwanis.

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